Rite of Passage

I'm SO excited about something I did today: I signed Liesel up for her very own American Airlines frequent flier account! We're planning to have the new baby blessed in Iowa in May and since Liesel will be over 2, she gets her own seat. As I started looking at ticket prices, it occurred to me that I could add Liesel as a companion traveller (Brent's been on there since we were dating). The only problem is she needed an AAdvantage # and I thought you had to have an email account to do that. One call to the AAdvantage desk and voila! She's ready to fly the friendly skies AND earn points for it! The agent told me her daughter had an AAdvantage account from the time she was 4. For the time being, Liesel is under my email account until she's old enough to have her own.

Both of our families live far enough away to warrant a plane trip at least every 18 months, which is how long an account can go with no activity before the miles expire. If you know me, you know how very much I love my AA frequent flier miles. It's like money in the bank! The only two times in my life I've used them were for a funeral and a vacation I wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise. I regularly log in to my account to check the updates and love seeing my balance go up, up, up! I hope to aspire to be like my parents and one day make the "Million Mile Club." Oh how sweet that would be! In the meantime, we'll let Liesel work towards that goal along with us. By the time she's in college, she could have enough miles for all her Christmas trips home! Or to go to Europe on study abroad! Or to travel for graduate school/job interviews. She doesn't know it yet, but her mama is doing her a HUGE favor.

I feel so clever, I can't stop smiling!